I hope it works. I hope that Israelis can find the courage and
compassion to fully respect international law and universal basic
human rights... and I hope Palestinians can find the courage and
compassion to forgive all who have conspired to oppress, impoverish
and displace them.

I hope both Israelis and Palestinians start seriously investing in
and empowering a fully secular two state solution to end the
Israel-Palestine conflict, and that negotiations are the beginning
of a transition away from institutionalized bigotry and religious
extremism in the Holy Land.

I hope that the rule of fair and just laws is allowed to flourish,
and that living side by side in peace and security individual by
individual, family by family, community by community and country by
country becomes the interwoven norm... with positive ramifications
for the entire region.

"Changing
the world one sip at a time" the Scarlett Johansson ad has
become an online meme for Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Pretty face
plus ugly facts culled from years of depressing news reports and
photographic evidence explaining the Israel-Palestine conflict make
for an intriguing and reinvigorating combination. Perhaps in the end
it will help add up into a tipping point for a just and lasting
peace and security with a plethora of good job opportunities for
both Israelis and Palestinians.

Even in a fully free society people need to earn a living and most
know to refrain from saying insulting things about their employer
... Of course Palestinian workers at the Israeli factory built in an
Israeli settlement in the West Bank like having a job and being able
to feed their families! Knowing the very real plight and suffering
of the Palestinians, it is utterly cruel and quite shortsighted for
your report on the topic to set these very vulnerable Palestinians
up as opposition to international calls for Israel to end it's
invasive and illegal settlement policies.

Negotiations for a just and lasting peace based on full respect for
international law and universal basic human rights are not helped by
obfuscations. I applaud OxFam's clear and straightforward response
to the Scarlett Johansson scandal:“Oxfam respects
the independence of our ambassadors,” the
group’s official statement reads. “Oxfam believes that
businesses that operate in settlements further the ongoing poverty
and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to
support. Oxfam is opposed to all trade from Israeli settlements,
which are illegal under international law.”

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

Given the U.S. commitment to religious
freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it
as the inalienable right of every human being, the United
States seeks to:Promote freedom of religion and conscience
throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a
source of stability for all countries The Office of International Religious
Freedom( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/
)

Refugees, Borders & Jerusalem"Where, after all, do
universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home -
so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of
the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person;
the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he
attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are
the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal
justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without
discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they
have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action
to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for
progress in the larger world."Eleanor
Roosevelt

UN Resolution 194 from 1948 : The refugees wishing to
return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours
should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date,
and that compensation should be paid for the property of those
choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property
which, under principles of international law or in equity,
should be made good by the Governments or authorities
responsible

Refugees
and the Right of Return
We call for a just solution to our refugee issue in accordance with
UN General Assembly Resolution 194. Our position on refugees is also
included and supported in the Arab Peace Initiative (API),
which calls for “a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem
to be agreed upon in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution
194.” A just solution to the refugee issue must address two aspects:
the right of return and reparations.

Emanating from the
conviction of the Arab countries that a military solution to the
conflict will not achieve peace or provide security for the
parties, the council:

1. Requests Israel to
reconsider its policies and declare that a just peace is its
strategic option as well.

2. Further calls upon
Israel to affirm:

I- Full Israeli withdrawal from all the
territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan
Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining
occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.

II- Achievement of a just solution to the
Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with
U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.

III- The acceptance of the establishment of a
sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian
territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

3. Consequently, the
Arab countries affirm the following:

I- Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended,
and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide
security for all the states of the region.

II- Establish normal relations with Israel in
the context of this comprehensive peace.

John
Kerry defends US foreign policy “The reason we’re
so devoted to finding a solution is simple: Because the benefits
of success and the dangers of failure are enormous for the United
States, for the world, for the region and, most importantly of
all, for the Israeli and Palestinian people,” US secretary of
state John Kerry at the World Economic Forum in Davos.